USB Flash drives random write very slowly and inefficiently. USB SuperCharger changes how data is written to a USB drive, so the drive always writes at its much faster linear speed. The results are remarkable:

That depends upon what you are doing. If you are backing up average sized Windows files (i.e. 150 kilobytes to 250kb), you will save about one minute of waiting for every 100 megabytes you back up. If you are using portable applications, you will typically save a minute for every 15 web pages you browse, or every 25 emails you receive.

Q:

What's the problem with Flash Memory?

A:

Standard random write technologies waste more than 90% of the effective speed and life of USB Flash Drives. Unlike hard disks which only update changed data, Flash media updates entire erase blocks. Erase blocks are 512 kilobyte segments of data. When new data is added, all the bytes of that block must be written, even if all that is changing is a 128 byte Inode. When you write a 150kb word document, the windows system needs to update the file itself plus three Inodes for 150.4kb of data change. But to make this update, it needs 4 erase blocks, updating 4 erase blocks of space. Thus, typical effiency on copies is only about 150.4/2048, or 7%. In environments like portable applications, with their smaller average data write size of 10 to 20 kilobytes, write efficiency is often below 1%. This inefficiency dramatically reduces both raw write speed and drive life.

Q:

How does SuperCharger fix the problem?

A:

Patent pending SuperCharger begins from a very simple principle: if random writing is a problem, then don't random write. Instead, Flash SuperCharger writes to block devices in long linear writes, and maintains a memory table to remember the current location of data. As a result, writes occur at the drive's linear write speed.

Here are test results for a SanDisk Cruzer Micro using the CrystalDiskMark disk test program. As you can see, small random writes speed up about 1,000 fold, but larger writes increase less because they can only rise to the linear write speed of the drive.

As the following table of tests shows, copy speeds for files typically increase 3x to 7x depending upon the model of drive. But no matter how fast the drive is, SuperCharger makes it faster because SuperCharger increases the speed of all writes to the linear speed of the device.

Minutes Needed to Copy a Gigabyte to a USB Flash Drive,
with and without USB SuperCharger

With

Without

With

Without

Lexar Lightning 4GB SLC

1.0

4.8

Kingston Traveler

3.5

12.3

Patriot XT

2.0

7.8

Hewlitt Packard v125w

3.9

13.6

SanDisk Cruzer

2.0

15.3

PNY Attache

3.9

13.8

Lexar Jump Drive

2.8

8.0

Generic MicroCenter

4.5

17.7

Ativa

3.0

8.9

Sony Microvault

5.0

27.9

Corsair Voyager Mini

3.4

8.8

USB w/ 7200rpm HDD

2.4

Note: Tests based upon average file size of 154 kilobytes. Makes and models shown are representative. Performance on other USB Flash Drives will vary based upon the actual design of the device. Copy times are based upon RAM-resident data, and do not allow for the time needed to read data from a hard disk.

As the table shows, SuperCharger improves the write speed of any flash drive, be it an expensive high speed single level cell model such as the Lexar Lightning or a cheap and slow generic drive such as the MicroCenter model. SuperCharger time saving is normally greatest with the least expensive and slowest drives because these are typically made faster than the fastest drives now available.

When we first installed the applications suite of PortableApps.com, it installed on the SuperCharger drive in two minutes. Install on an identical drive without SuperCharger took 24 minutes. Similarly, when we ran the portable apps variant of the FireFox web browser, the SuperCharger stick needed only 20 seconds to load 14 different web page tabs, while the bare flash drive needed 90. That's exceptionally fast. Even a fast 7200 rpm hard disk will need about 30 to 40 seconds to perform the same task.

Normally, only expensive Flash drives like the Lexar Lightning are suitable for use with portable applications, virtual systems, and databases. The Lightning tends to have performance similar to a moderate speed hard drive. But SuperCharger makes even cheap generic Flash Drives run faster than the Lightning as well as hard drives in a portable application environment.

Fragmentation is what happens when files are deleted, copied, or rewritten with a different size. Over time, the file system ends up with a lot of small pieces of space rather than one big, clean space where data can be written as a single piece. We have seen USB file systems so badly fragmented that they were taking ten times longer to update than their times after reformatting. Supercharger does not "fix" this problem. Instead, it makes it irrelevent! If it takes the same time to update 128 4kb blocks, and one optimized 512kb block, then fragmentation becomes irrelevant for performance purposes even though it may physically happen.

Q:

How does SuperCharger reduce file deletion times?

A:

SuperCharger typically deletes files 25 times faster than it writes them. Conversely, normal file deletion takes almost as much time as the original random write. The reason deletion is fast is that deletion involves deletion only of the very small Inodes and SuperCharger performs updates of small blocks of data extremely fast.

SuperCharger commonly has an erase/write efficiency of 60% to 85%. This means that in an average write, 60% to 85% of the data being written is changed data while 15% to 30% of the data written by SuperCharger is rewrites of existing data. Conversely, as we noted above, average write efficiencies of average to large copied data tend to be in the 7% to 10% efficiency range, while efficiency in portable applications, databases, and virtual systems is often below 1% and can be as low as 1/10th percent.

Why does this matter? Flash memory has a limited amount of life. Most MLC flash memory has a life cycle of about 2,500 erase cycles. This means that a 4gb drive can accept 10 terabytes of linear writes before it fails. On the other hand, some of the newest media, as well as lower grade media, only has a life cycle of 1,000 erase cycles. But consider 10 terabytes. If the write efficiency of this is 7%, you will only be able to write 700 gigabytes of data before failure (instead of 10 terabytes). Suppose you religiously back up 2 gigabytes of personal data every day to the same 4gb stick. Before a year is out, you will have written more than 700 gigabytes to your flash stick and the stick will probably be dead.

But the SuperCharger enhanced drive will normally last many years unless it encounters an electrical or memory failure, because of its enhanced efficiency

While any disk drive test suite can be used to test SuperCharger performance, we have found that the CrystalDiskMark test used in the SanDisk example, above, provides a very clear measure of how Flash SuperCharger will perform because it provides performance tests for very small 4kb records, while also testing fairly big half-megabyte records and the linear speed of the device. To run a test reliably, you will need to run CrystalDiskMark twice: once with the bare Flash Drive, and once with a Flash SuperCharger volume installed. Generally, the default settings will produce meaningful information.

Q:

Why do some drives improve significantly more than others?

A:

Flash SuperCharger performs all writes using a linear method of writing. Some drives have random write speeds that are proportionately slower than others. We tend to improve these drives the most.

Yes. PortableApps.com provides portable device variants of almost 30 GPL applications including the Thunderbird email client, FireFox web browser, and the open desktop productivity suite. Tests with SuperCharger have shown that the entire application will typically install in 1/12th the time needed to install the same products on a bare flash drive. Similarly, customers report that their devices run both Thunderbird and FireFox significantly faster than is possible with a 7200 rpm internal, even though the drive they are using is a slow single channel model such as the PNY (see table above for relative performance). Imagine their performance with a dual-channel, or even SLC flash device!

Q:

Can I run a Virtual Machine with Flash SuperCharger?

A:

Yes. Several companies, such as VMware produce virtual operating systems that can be installed on a USB Thumb Drive. Since Flash SuperCharger has performance characteristics similar or superior to high speed hard disks, it is easy to carry your office around your neck.

Q:

Can I keep my database on a stick with Flash SuperCharger?

A:

Flash SuperCharger offers exceptional performance in database environments because it reads from and updates small records vastly faster than hard disks.

Q:

Can I Reformat my USB Stick?

A:

The USB version of Flash SuperCharger keys to the hardware serial number of the USB device. We retain this information when we activate your product. Accordingly, if you want to totally reinstall Flash SuperCharger you can do so and Flash SuperCharger will reauthorize based upon data match.

Q:

What happens if I lose my USB Stick or it fails?

A:

If you lose your USB stick, or your stick fails at any time during the first twelve months after purchase, we will give you a storage segment to replace the one on the USB Flash Drive that was lost. To qualify, you must write an email to support (see: how can I get support for USB SuperCharger?). In the email, you must include your name and address, a phone number and email address where we can contact you, statement of whether the stick was lost or destroyed, the manufacturer, model, and storage capacity of the stick, and the serial number of the USB SuperCharger license. Allowances of this sort normally take 1 to 2 business days to process. If your Flash Drive was corrupted but you can still low level format it, remember that your existing license can be used to relicense the same stick without losing any activations.

Q:

Can I use USB Card readers with SuperCharger?

A:

Yes. There are some limitations, however because our license is keyed to the serial number on the reader itself, while the media is unserialized. This means that the reader has to move with the media. Read our PDF install guide for all limitations.

Q:

How can I get Support for Flash SuperCharger?

A:

Flash Supercharger is an easy-to-use product with extensive, multi-lingual documentation built into the setup screens. Similarly, the ability to find and upgrade to a newer version of Flash SuperCharger is built into the support screens. Because of its low cost and the convenience provided to users, support for Flash SuperCharger is normally provided by email only unless the support staff determines that a telephone conversation would more rapidly resolve issues. To get support of any sort, write to support@USB-SuperCharger.com. If you really need telephone rather than email support, you can call our support staff at (+1) 610-237-200 during our normal business hours: 8:30am to 5:30pm Eastern Standard Time.

Q:

Can I use Flash SuperCharger for USB Flash Drives on Mac or Linux?

A:

Flash SuperCharger for USB Flash Drives is currently only available for use with all versions of Windows systems that support USB 2.0: XP, Vista, Windows 7, 2003 and 2008 series. Mac and Linux support is not available at this time but is under development. SuperCharger will not be supported on Windows 95, 98, ME, and Windows 2000 as these lack the proper support for USB 2.0, and thus would be extremely slow (USB 1.1 has less than a 10th the throughput of USB 2.0.)

Q:

When will you support the NTFS File System?

A:

NTFS maintains a log file of changes that is only flushed when the drive volume is unmounted. Accordingly, to avoid corruption, NTFS file systems must always be unmounted using the unmount option on the Windows Start Bar. We will soon be adding support for NTFS. But people using this option will have to remember to manually unmount their device in the Start Bar to avoid data corruption.

Q:

Do I lose any space when USB SuperCharger is setup?

A:

SuperCharger gets its speed and increased life by setting aside part of the storage space so that it can create long segments of space to write to. In USB Flash Drives, the mandatory set-aside is 10% of the storage area. On the other hand, most USB Flash Drives are formatted with a 32 kilobyte cluster size (rather than 4kb) in order to increase the write and delete speed for large items. Typically. the use of a 32kb block size costs the users 10% to 14% of their potentially usable disk space. SuperCharger always runs on a 4kb cluster because linerization eliminates the need for other speed games. Thus, SuperCharger is space-neutral or space-positive for most USB Flash Drives.

When you are unplugging a stick where you have only been writing to the SuperCharger volume, all you need to do is wait until the light on the USB drive goes out. SuperCharger writes all data FIFO (first in, first out) in the order it was received. It also closes the SuperCharger volume after a couple of seconds of inactivity. Because SuperCharger writes FIFO, even if you pull the drive prematurely with the disk light still flashing, the worst that will happen is that data you intended to write will be lost, but the drive will not be corrupted because data actually written to the drive is not written out of order.

This is not the case with FAT32 file systems written to the bare stick. Here, to allow for the inherent write-slowness of USB, FAT sorts data into the most write-efficient manner, and may not, in fact, write all data or all control data even though it seems as if it has. It is this possibility of inconsistency that can cause corruption of data, and failure of the stick. Accordingly, if you make a change to the bare volume, either by setting up or configuring your SuperCharger volume, or by storing data in the bare volume (something you might want to do if you were also working with a Mac or similar machine), you need to be careful to unmount the drive volume in your start bar before pulling the Flash Drive out of the computer.

Q:

Are There any Security Issues in Auto-Mounting a SuperCharger Accelerated Flash Drive?

A:

Most users will want to install Auto-Mounting on all Workstations that they control. Auto-Mounting is the default behavior of all USB Flash Drives and all removable media. Our Auto-Mount option mimics this behavior by installing a service on the Windows Workstation. This service launches the mount application installed on your USB stick. Special care has been taken to assure that only the mount function will mount, and that auto-mount will not occur if the program has been tampered with in any way. If you choose to manually mount, you must remember that each time you insert the stick, you will have to toggle the mount program in the base stick in order to launch SuperCharger.

Are There any restrictions on the 2 gigabyte FREE version of SuperCharger?

A:

The 2gb free offer is a full permanent activation. The SuperCharger software will not activate if there is more than 2gb of flash memory on the USB Flash drive. There is a limit of 2 free licenses per customer. EasyCo LLC reserves the right to withdraw or amend this offer without notice.